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Flint foam factory could benefit from New Balance deal with military

Photo by New Balance
New Balance makes a running shoe for the U.S. Army now, and hopes to increase military sales in the future.

Boston-based athletic shoe maker New Balance and its supplier Rogers Foam Corp. are joining forces to lobby support for a proposal that the U.S. Department of Defense favor the use of U.S.-based running shoes for its service personnel.

Rogers Foam's factory in Flint supplies foam used by New Balance.

New Balance already makes the 993 US Army running shoe. It is hoping to convince the military to overhaul a 2002 decision which allowed service personnel to choose their own sports shoes either from U.S.-made or imported shoes.

The shoe company has two factories in Massachusetts and three in Maine, and boasts that one out of every four of its shoes sold in the U.S. are either “made or assembled” in the U.S.

Prior to 2002, the Berry Amendment ensured that only certain domestic commodities made up the uniform of military personnel.

New Balance company spokesman Matt LeBretton said his firm had invested in a machine to manufacture mid-soles – the one component it had outsourced overseas – in the spirit of its campaign.